The turbulent summer is now over, with supporters feeling more united as the Whites aim for promotion
Leeds United’s start under Daniel Farke, as well as a busy end to the transfer window, appears to have united the fanbase with supporters finally agreed on where they think the club will finish this season.
A lot has happened since Premier League relegation four months ago, with a transfer merry-go-round following the club’s 49ers Enterprises takeover and the appointment of Farke. The Elland Road outfit have kept some of their stars, but there’s no doubting that this is a very different club to the one that last kicked a ball in England’s top flight.
The closure of the transfer window brought an end to a turbulent summer, with focus switching firmly to what’s happening on the pitch. That’s why we’ve been asking Whites fans where they felt the club would finish this season. It was the same question as one we asked following relegation in May, and the comparisons are interesting.
Before the summer, fans were split between those who were sure the club would bounce back with promotion at the first attempt, and those who felt the club would slide back into Championship obscurity.
Over one-third of fans (35%) said the club would achieve automatic promotion, while 29% expected the club to finish midtable – a noticeable contrast between the optimistic and pessimistic branches of the Leeds United fanbase in the days following relegation.
Now, though, fans appear to be a lot more assured about where the club will finish, and while fewer fans are expecting to celebrate a top-two spot come the end of the season, the results show that supporters are generally more hopeful than they were in May.
Almost half of the fanbase (46%) believe the club will make the play-offs this season, while a quarter think that the club will narrowly miss out on the top six. That means 84% of respondents are expecting a serious push for promotion, compared to only 68% a few months ago.
At the same time, the number of fans expecting a midtable finish has more than halved, with only 12% now expecting the club to be out of play-off contention completely.
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